Julia had surgery Tuesday to place her new chemo port. Dr. Mattei, the surgeon, was able to place her new port in the same place as the previous one (only one scar). She was a little sore this morning, but mostly complained about her throat bothering her (due to the tube placed down there during the surgery).
Today chemo round #3 began. Julia’s appointment was at 9:00 AM. Julia had her labs taken and all her counts were good. Shortly after Julia’s exam, there was a power outage at the clinic. The entire area, including the Mall, lost power. This posed a challenge as none of the monitors would work and the chemo could not be mixed in the pharmacy. PECO (the local electric company) said they could not give a time for repair to be completed and when service would return to the area. The plan to switch locations went into place. The nurses had to work to determine space at CHOP in center city, get the orders ready, and prepare Julia and I to go on our way. About one hour into setting everything up, the power came back on and the decision to proceed with chemo in King of Prussia was made. Infusion began a short time after 1 PM.
Julia kept herself busy all morning by making decorations for the clinic makeover with Terry, the child-life specialist, and another patient who was getting a transfusion. Julia got her Zofran first to settle her stomach, with her fist chemo med, Etoposide to follow. As normal, Julia’s blood pressure was monitored during this infusion. Next, the new chemo, Carboplatin, was started. This is a strong drug and soon after the drip started, Julia wanted to rest and lay down. Her makeover plans were put aside and she relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.
Tomorrow chemo will be at CHOP in center city. There is not an oncologist on duty in KoP tomorrow, so we need to go into the city. Julia will be back on King of Prussia for treatment on Friday and Saturday will get her Neulasta at home.